The present invention relates to bee frames used in the production of comb honey and, more particularly, to novel molded plastic frames and methods of construction thereof.
A typical beehive maintained for the domestic consumption of comb honey includes a number of so-called bee frames supported in side-by-side relation within a rectangular box or housing, referred to as a super, two or more such supers normally being stacked upon one another to form the complete hive. The bee frames have traditionally been constructed of wood in an open rectangular configuration, but frames of molded plastic construction have also been proposed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,579,676, 2,239,708, 3,088,135, 3,864,196 and 3,885,260, for example, disclose beehive frames and/or comb foundations made partially or completely of molded plastic. The structure of these prior art molded plastic frames is such, however, that expensive molds are required and/or other disadvantages of wooden bee frames remain.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a beehive frame, and method of construction thereof, which significantly reduce the cost of both labor and materials to the point that the frames are disposable after a single use without significantly affecting the cost of the comb honey contained therein.
A further object is to provide a bee frame which may conveniently be cut into individual pieces after being filled with comb honey to serve as a support for the marketed combs.
Another object is to reduce the cost and/or increase the profit to the producer of comb honey by providing a bee frame which requires minimal assembly time, allows the honey to be sold without cutting the comb, provides the quantity requested by the customer in a single operation, and provides an attractive and ready-made package for the honeycomb.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.